Hector Luis Garcia hopes to follow up his win over Isaac Avelar with a title shot in 2022, with Leo Santa Cruz just one of the division's prominent champions.
The 30-year-old former Olympian defeated Avelar in December at The Armory in Minneapolis, staying unbeaten and moving to a 14-0 record.
Garcia suffered an early knockdown but dominated the rest of the fight.
Speaking to BoxingScene.com, he acknowledged he came back into the fight after an early stumble.
“From my point of view, I hit the canvas in the first round but I wasn’t hurt. I wasn’t able to get in my rhythm in the first but the knockdown was mostly because I was off balance,” he said.
“I think Avelar is a warrior but he didn’t want to take too many risks after the first knockdown. He knew it wasn’t an easy fight against me and he knew one knockdown wouldn’t make the difference if I was able to win the rest of the rounds which I did.”
Garcia fought twice in 2021 after another pandemic-hit boxing year, and he hopes to step up his activity in 2022.
“I hope to be more active in the upcoming years so I don’t get rusty. I want to stay sharp and on top of my game,” he said.
“The way I see it is that I had a chance to knock Avelar out but I couldn’t continue to pressure him. I was in good condition physically but after being in camp for five months, my legs wouldn’t react how I wanted so I just took the fight round by round and won each round, one at a time.”